31st Annual
Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon and 8K
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Virginia Beach Pavilion, Virginia Beach, VA
By Rick Platt
Ponce de Leon traveled to St. Augustine, Florida in his search for the Fountain of Youth, but never found it. Perhaps he would have succeeded if he had continued 60 miles further west to Gainesville, where Ukraine's Tatyana Pozdnyakova is defying age with a series of incredible running performances.
At age 48, Pozdnyakova shattered the women's 8K Masters world record March 15
at the 31st annual Shamrock Sportsfest 8K in Virginia Beach. The previous world
record was 26:19 by Ruth Wysocki of the U.S. on July 12, 1997 at Newport Beach,
Calif. Pozdnyakova ran a 25:56 to better the world record by 23 seconds, and
the Shamrock Masters 8K race record (26:34 by Lyubov Kremleva in 2002) by 38
seconds.
The time also broke the world record for the women's 45-49 age group, the previous
mark being 26:56 by Priscilla Welch of Great Britain in Washington, DC on May
13, 1990 (Pozdnyakova just missed that world record last year with her runnerup
26:58). Pozdnyakova now works as an agent for other runners, and brought Kremleva,
the defending champion, with her. Kremleva, also from Gainesville, was herself
under both the previous race and world records with a 26:15. Kremleva's time
is the new women's age 40-44 8K world record.
In a race that allowed "double dipping" Pozdnyakova won $1,000 for
first Master, $400 for third overall (behind Gladys Asiba's 25:47 for $1,000
open money and Breeda Dennehy's 25:55 for $600), and a Masters world-record
bonus of $500. Kremleva received $600 for second Master and $300 for fourth
overall.
Two weeks before Shamrock (March 2), Pozdnyakova was the overall winner of the
Los Angeles Marathon in 2:29:40. She had her 48th birthday two days later, then
was first Master at the nearby Gate River 15K in Jacksonville March 8. Last
October Pozdnyakova was first overall at the Ocean State Marathon in 2:29:00,
a world-best time for women 45-49. Most runners concentrate on the first 2-4
years after turning 40 to run their best times as a Master. For Pozdnyakova
to still be breaking world Masters records at age 48 is truly remarkable.
With her women's world Masters record, the Shamrock Masters 8K now holds both
Masters world records on the fast and totally flat course along the Atlantic
Ocean . In the 1992 Shamrock Masters 8K, Nick Rose of Great Britain set the
still-current men's Masters 8K record of 23:13. The weather for this year's
race was ideal, with little or no wind, sunny skies, and temperatures in the
40s (rising to the low 50s for the marathon).
While Pozdnyakova and the women took advantage of one of the best weather years
ever at Shamrock, the open men (with a plethora of talented international runners)
wasted an opportunity to go for the race and world record bonuses offered this
year by Shamrock. The opening mile was a pedestrian 4:55, with the women's lead
pack only eight seconds behind. Things got fast after that first mile, but the
damage was done. Covering the final 3.97 miles in 17:32, Kenya's Linus Maiyo
had yet another ferocious duel to the finish (he lost a photo finish to South
Africa's Hendrick Ramaala at the Feb. 23 World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico, both
timed in 28:16), but Maiyo won a physical sprint to Shamrock's outdoor finish
line adjacent to the Virginia Beach Pavilion. Maiyo had a 22:27 for $1,000,
just 18 seconds off the Shamrock record (22:09) and 24 seconds off the world
record (22:03). Kenya's Francis Komu was second in 22:28 ($600), followed by
Kenya's Moses Macharia Mwangi (22:41 for $400), Australia's Andrew Letherby
(22:55 for $300) and Kenya's Patrick Nthiwa (23:01 for $200). If only that talented
field had gone out in 4:30 (rather than 4:55), more history could have been
made.
The Masters men's race was also very close, as Kenya's Andrew Masai, 43, outkicked
Eddy Hellebuyck, 42 of Albuquerque, 23:54 ($1,000) to 23:57 ($600), with Jon
Sinclair a distant third (25:12 for $400). Two 50 runners were outstanding
as Jerry Clark, 50, of Charlotte (26:24) and Terry Mahr, 54, of Oregon, Ohio
(31:03) were each sixth overall in the Masters 8K. Clark turned 50 back on Jan.
12, but this was his first race in the 50 category (he attempted the Charlotte
Marathon in January, but 14-degree temperatures forced him to stop at 18 miles).
He should battle runners like Gary Romesser and Chuck Moeser as the top 50-54
runner in the U.S. this year, after running 16:24, 34:01 and 1:14:39 (half marathon)
last fall at age 49. Mahr was the top Ohio female Masters runner from 1990-97
with Masters PRs of 17:12, 28:39 (8k), 35:45, 59:05 (10 miles), 1:19:16 (half
marathon) and 2:48:50 (marathon). After turning 50, she was first in the Running
Times 50-54 Runner-of-the-Year category in 1999-2000, and second in 2001.
The marathon was won by Kenya's Fred Getange of Chapel Hill, N.C. (2:25:55 for
$1,000) over debut marathoner Keith Kimmons, a senior and cross country runner
for the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (2:26:40 for $600). Masters marathon
winner Dai Roberts, 41, of Virginia Beach, was third overall (2:28:11 for $400),
ahead of two other local runners--Michael Mann of Hampton (a PR 2:28:28 for
$300) and John Piggott of Williamsburg (a PR 2:30:14 for $200), all three working
together the entire race.
The top five men's marathon finishers, along with Bogdan Kasak of Poland (the
No. 2 seed for the men with a 2:18:19 PR) were together to almost the half marathon,
with all leading at various points, and with several shortlived breakaways.
After the half marathon, Getange (with a 2:16:45 PR), Kimmons and Kasak broke
from the Roberts-Mann-Piggott pack, but Kasak dropped off the lead pack, and
was caught by the local group at 17 miles, running with them until 21. Piggott
dropped off the Roberts-Mann pace at 23 miles, but held off Kasak for the final
prize-money spot, 2:30:14 to 2:30:35. Piggott's previous marathon PR was a 2:30:45
at Richmond in 2001. Mann had never broken 2:30 before.
The women's surprise marathon winner, Stacie Alboucrek, 35, of Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., was not among the seeded runners, as she had just intended to run 18-20
miles as a training race for the St. Louis Marathon three weeks later (the same
course as the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Trials). But the weather was perfect,
she felt great, and kept going to a 2:39:49 win, good for the $1,000 first-place
money, and an additional Olympic Trials "A" standard (sub-2:40:00)
bonus of $250.Alboucrek had won the 2001 Compaq Houston Marathon in 2:43:40,
then had an Olympic Trials "B" qualifier at the 2002 Motorola Austin
Marathon (2:42:41). She only signed up for Shamrock 1 1/2 weeks before, and
didn't even know of the $1,000 prize money until after the race. "It really
wasn't hard," said Alboucrek. "It's a beautiful course, the day was
perfect, and the fans were great. I played it by ear, but at 20 miles, I knew
I couldn't stop. My real goal was to break 2:40."
Runnerup Susan Graham Gray of Hagerstown, Md. was on pace for a "B"
standard qualifier (sub-2:48), going through the half marathon in 1:23:56, but
cramps midway had her struggling in to a runnerup 2:57:00 ($600), just ahead
of Heather Davis of Raleigh, N.C. (2:57:27 for $400) and Jill Knesh of Homer
City, Pa. (2:57:33, $300). The fifth-place female was 13-year-old Aurora Scott
of Portsmouth (3:03:31), but she did not accept prize money. That $200 went
to the sixth-place finisher, Cheryl Twomey, 24, of Charlottesville, a former
all-ACC runner for Virginia with a 5,000-meter PR of 17:13. Now in grad school
at UVA, Twomey said, "I just run for fun now," but that was good enough
for $200 in prize money. The women's Masters winner was Leisa Ensle, 44, of
Virginia Beach (3:06:07 for $300), only 20 seconds off her PR 3:05:47 from Tampa's
Marathon by the Bay in January. Ensle is in the best shape of her life, setting
PRs in the past six months at the marathon, half marathon (1:25:43 at the Norfolk
Half Marathon), 10K (39:26 at the Turkey Trot 10K in Virginia Beach) and 8K
(31:29 at the Neptune Festival 8K in Virginia Beach).
After 30 years of race directing by Jerry Bocrie, this year's Shamrock was the
first with Jerry and Amy Frostick as race directors. The Frosticks, owners of
Final Kick Sports, were thrilled with the success of the weekend, from the perfect
racing weather to the world record by Pozdnyakova to having three local runners
place in the marathon top five to the large turnout. There were a total of 4,604
entrants in the three races (3,089 in the 8K, 1,410 in the marathon, and 105
in the marathon walk) and 3,846 finishers (2,648 in the 8K, 1,117 in the marathon,
and 81 in the marathon walk).
Jerry Frostick said, "The weather was ideal for racing. The outdoor finish
with the long straightaway added excitement and faster times. Having Tatyana
break the world record, it's incredible. Now the Shamrock has both men's and
women's world records on this course. Shamrock is very proud of that. With all
the celebration, it's a world-class race with a home-town feel. The crowds were
out there for the world record, and 4-5 hours later, the crowds were still out
there cheering on the five-hour marathoners. It couldn't have been done without
the support of the city of Virginia Beach, and the many volunteers."